Creating room

Step-1

You put the room type if you want to get the recommended lighting levels as per EN12464 in Assessment zone and application.

You can hide or Show the descriptive texts by cliking ? Icon on the property window.

Creating Dropped Ceiling

1-Go to construction mode 2-Go to Help lines Tool 3-Make sure you are in the storey View 4-Make sure you are in the Plan View 5-Select Draw refernce line

Draw a reference line in the room form point 1 to 2 and make the offset line to be 1 m in the Parallels spaced apart

Tip: if the line is outside the room you can rotate along z axis 180 different than your current angle.

Go to Ceiling Tool

Click inside the room to select the room

Draw new ceiling following points 1,2 (points at the offset reference line) then 3,4 and last right click the mouse and select close polygon.

Make sure to put theClearance height = 3.25ceiling thickness=0.75m0.75m of thickness to make it solid without void because you are going to use the cutout tool as you will see later

Creating a recessed track lighting system

Step-5

From reference lines tool draw help reference grid with distance of x,y as 1,1 m above the dropped ceiling

Step-6

From reference lines draw polygonal reference line in the point shown in the side image.Then right click to close polygon.

You can delete the help reference grid, and now you can see polygonal reference line clearly.

Step-7

This is the position of a track light system.Now create offset lines form the four sides of the polygonal reference line in the same way as you did step-3 with an offset value of 0.035 m so you have the width of a track like the next image

Step-8

go to 3d view

Select cutout toolAnd draw a rectangular cut out in the dropped ceiling

Draw a random cutout in the ceiling

Go to plan view and select the cutout you made, if you can’t select it then go to the Cutout tool and select the cutout.

Move the corner points of the cutout to the corner points of the outer reference lines by mouse.

Go to plan view and select the cutout you made, if you can’t select it then go to the Cutout tool and select the cutout.Move the corner points of the cutout to the corner points of the outer reference lines by mouse.

While selecting the cutoutActivate the Limit Cutting Depthput 0035 m as depthThis is the depth of a the Track

Step-9

Now go to material tool

Step-10

Select a black color and drag it while pushing the shift key of keyboard and apply the color to the inner surface of the niche.

Step-11

Go to plan view and make another ceiling in the corner of the inner reference lines.

Step-12

Put clearance height as 3.25 and ceiling thickness 0.75

Step-13

Go to color and pick the color that you used by selecting the pick material optionsThen apply it to the four sides’ surface of the new ceiling.

–

Now you should be having niche in the ceiling similar to a reassessed track lighting system

Of course you could do the above by many different ways like objects and subtraction, but this way is very useful when you place lighting as DIALux detects ceiling and place the ceiling luminaires right at the ceiling!

Inserting furniture and objects

Step-14

Go to furniture and objects tool and select DIALux evo object catalog

Put in the search box the word 200×80 a legs

Select the object that appears

Click apply and close

Step-15

select place individual object and place it somewhere in the roomMake the position at x=3,y=2 mHeight =0.35Rotation @Z=90°

You can always use the mouse tool of modifying objects, which could be very handy if you have a cad background

Move the green arrow down to center of the cubeTip if you select the triangle then you can move in x,y plane, but if you select the green arrow you will move the object only in y axis.The red arrow will move only in x axis.For this tutorial move only the green arrow.

After creating this object ungroup the parts

Step-20

Delete the object that was created in step-18 (used to creates these parts witch is selected in the next image)

Step-21

Make sure you are in the Copy and Arrange Tool, Select all the objects near the wall, and select center z to make the smaller objects and the center height of the bigger object.

Step-22

create the last object which we use it as a painting on the wall

Place a cube with

position x= 0.025m, y= 2.55m, Z=1m

Size L = 0.050, W= 1.100, H= 1.100

Step-23

Go to floorplan view and while selecting the last object use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste the last object (you can also copy and paste by mouse right click )

The pasted object will be automatically selected, but should be modified to the following values

Size L = 0.030, W= 1.05, H= 1.05

Step-24

Go to front view If you don’t see front view then click on the small arrowTip: use shift to select another abject and ctrl to deselect an abject

Select the last two objects on the wall go to Copy and Arrange Tool and select Align Right x, Then click center z

Step-25

Finally select subtract, and click on subtract button after you make select the bigger object if not selected.You can swap between objects under the line SUBTRACT FORM WHICH OBJECT?

Now you should be having a view like this one.

Importing 3ds and m3d files to DIALux evo

Step-26

In similar way to Step-3 ,draw 2 reference lines with an offset of 0.35 m form the table.the reference line will be the the edge of the table and the PARALLELS SPACED APART=0.35 outside the table.use rotation if the offset line is inside the table.Draw two lines, one for each sidefor each one like the next image, to place you can use this for imported chair in these locations.

Step-27

Vitra Organic Chair will be used in this tutorial

Vitra provide 3ds files for most of their products which could be imported easily into DIALux 4 and DIALux evo, however the file size should remain small in size with not too many surfaces, as rule of thumb try not to include a file more than 1 Mb,

This file has 208 KB which should be ok for most computers but if your computer specification is low then try to use lighter file, or use DIALux standard furniture.

Once the catalog opens click on import button which is located at bottom left of the catalog

Now click on add files and browse to the downloaded file of vita organic chair

You Have To Select All Files While Importing 3ds files for version evo1, otherwise you won’t be able to see the 3ds file

Select the 3ds of the downloaded file

Step-28

Go back to the catalog (if the catalog is minimized then maximize it)

Select the object in the right window by mouse.

click assign

click import

Step-29

Now in the search box of the catalog white organic, select the file and then apply, or double click on the object.

Step-30

Make sure the chair appears in the furniture and objects window.Select Draw line arrangment

draw the line arrangement form point 1 to point 2.if you draw it from line 2 to 1 then you have to rotate it later(anti-clockwise)

Put the quantity 2 and distance as 2

Step-31

Repeat the line arrangement for chair for the lower reference line then Put the quantity 2 and distance as 2 for the second line.

Step-32

Move both arrangements to the center of the reference line, by selecting the red arrow

Step-33

If you select one of the chairs you select the arrangement where you can modify that arrangement, if you click another time on the same chair you activate selection of only that chair, then you can modify the object properties.

Now select any chair twice to activate object properties and then select all other chair and modify the height to 0.675 m

If you feel your computer get slow in calculation download a liter chair form vita called Tom Vac, this chair has only 61.1 KB

Unlike Vitra 3ds made in meters which is perfect for DIALux, you find a lot of files in this website in different dimensions e.g. (mm, inches and feet)

Step-36

The current version of DIALux evo 1 doesn’t yet have an automatic scaling tool so you can use DIALux 4 to import and scale 3ds file and then save the file in m3d format.Open DIALux 4 and create a room of any size then go to file, import and edit 3d models.

Select the downloaded 3ds flower file (Flower N171208) and then click next and select millimeters.Click next twice and finish.

Step-37

select the object and right click the mouse and select save objectSave object to a convenient location, let’s make it desktop and name it as Flower T4.

Step-38

In a similar way to step-26 go to DIALux evo Furniture and Objects tool and open DIALux furniture catalog and import the files as you did in importing Vitra chair.

After importing write in the search box of the catalog the word Flower T, selected and apply, similar to step-17

Step-39

Go to 3d view and place the flower somewhere on the table, you can do this by dragging the flower by mouse to the table or by using place individual object and then selecting the location.

Step-40

Keep the flowers selected and go to copy and arrange tool, click shift and select the table so you have both objects selected.Click on center x, center y to make the flower vase center on table.

Step-41

let’s place the last object for this tutorial, go to furniture and object and select a sphere and make segments as 24 and diameter as 0.3

Step-42

Place it on the column created earlier

Step-43

Go to plan view and select the corner of the sphere to the corner of the column, this is a very easy way to move objects corners

Step-44

go to front view and move the z arrow of the sphere up to be at top of the column

Now your project should look like the following image

Applying materials and colors

Step-45

Time to color your project so go to Materials tool

Step-46

Select DIALux material catalog

Step-47

Palisander

Type in the search box the word grey+06 and then select it and click apply (alternately double click on the material)Repeat the same for the three materials

Palisander

Grass

grey+06

Grass

grey+06

Step-48

Go back to material and now select Materials tab where you can find your selected materials form the catalog, If you wish to make them favorites then right click the mouse and select favorite.

Step-49

Go to 3d view and Drag and drop theGrey+06 to the floorPalisander to table top and paining on wallGrass to the green color of flowers

Step-50

Make sure you are still in the materials tool and select the top surface of the table and rotate the surface by 90°.You can move scale and rotate the material as you wish.

Step-51

let’s import an image for the paining, this is the selected one for this tutorials.

You can download then to Material tool, click on CREATE TEXTURE MATERIAL and browse to the image you want to import

Step-52

Select apply material and apply it to the front face of the painting object (alternately drag it while holding shift key down)

Step-53

Select the material on the painting and scale it to cover the whole painting.The points marked in red to scale.The point marked in green to rotate.The point marked in blue to move.

Step-54

let’s apply color to the rest of the surfaces by toing to Material Tool and selecting Create Color Material

Adjust saturation to left so you can get a white color.

Red, green and blue to high values

Select Material type to be painted.

Put reflection factor as 80%.

Note: 80% is very high don’t use this values for walls unless you are really sure as this value affect the calculation drastically

The default values in practice is 70% for ceiling, 50% for walls and 20% for floor

Step-55

Apply this color to the ceiling 3 parts, walls, column, sphere and the 6 parts of low cabinet under the paining.

Ceiling part 1

Ceiling part 2

Ceiling part 3

Sphere + column

The 6 parts of low cabinet under the paining.

Step-56

After applying the color to the above object in the upper table and walls, change the color property

Material Type :Metallic.

Reflection factor=90%.

Reflective coating=90 (this is to make the object glossy and have a polish look like a metal similart to the prieview sphere).

Apply the above color to the legs of chair and table to give them polish metal look during rendering.

Step-57

Apply similar color shown in the image to the chair top parts

Step-58

Zoom to flower vase and apply a white color to the flowers, and a dark green to the grey color.

Step-59

Select a white color and apply the following valuesChange the Material type to TransparentMake reflection factor around 40%Degree of transmission around 30%And refractive index as 1.3

your project should look like this

Inserting luminaires

Step-60

All what was done earlier was in the construction mode, now go to light mode

Step-61

After downloading all the files go to file -> import -> luminaire file and import all the 5 ULD data files by selecting the files and clicking open.

Step-62

Go to floorplan view and select 37838, you can type itin the search box, it will appear in the Select, History Tab

Step-63

Draw line form point one to point 2 in the ceiling. the line of light should be close to the offset reference line. You can move this line after you draw it by move action.

Step-64

The quantity of the wallwasher should be 5 and the distance should be 1 m

Step-65

Makesure the light distribution is going to the left wall by activating show light Distribution form the display option in the upper rightUse rotate option if the light distribution not to the wall.

Step-66

Go back to light and select, type 37824 in search box and select this light.Draw Rectangular arrangement inside track location using inner reference lines following points 1,2 and 3 as illustrated below.

You can always modify the Rectangular arrangement by selecting Edit Polygon in the top tool bar

Step-67

Go back to light and select, type 75882 in search box and select this light .in the ploorlan view palace single luminaire in the track location above the flower , you can go to right view and adjust the location to make the luminaire inside the niche(Track)

Step-68

Select 75870 , in the floorplan view palace it in the track facing the paining and rotate the luminaire by 90° around Z axis

Step-69

Go to Copy and Arrange tool in LIGHT MODE, and then select the last luminaire and the painting and CENTER Y.

Step-70

Go back to Luminaire tool and select, type 75890 in the search box

Place 2 single luminaire somewhere in the room near track location, then modify location as shown.make sure to put – sign before the rotation for both angles

LocationX=1.975Y=3.686Rotation =-45 @ Z axis

LocationX=1.975Y=3.030Rotation = -135 @ Z axis

Step-71

The last step in luminaire mode before going to calculation is to aim the spot light, the Cantax spot light form ERCO has a rotatable joints as we can see form DIALux icon.If you see the icon heighted in red box this means the luminaire has rotatable parts(model with joints)You can rotate it in the Edit Joints Tool highlighted by orange box

Step-72

Active 3d view ,Go to Edit Joints tool and select the HEAD OF Cantax Spotlight facing the painingThe head should appear in red, don’t select the luminaire arm or luminaire top, and select only the head. Then click on set illumination point in the Edit joints Actions, then click the mouse cursor to middle of the painting as you could see form the green ring in the third image below so you can easily aim the spot light to the painting.

Step-73

Aim the other two spot light one for flower and the other for sphere as shown.

Save Camera View or Point of View (POV)

Step-74

Go to Views Tool and move the project in 3d view to appropriate view and click on Save New View in actions of views to be able to go back any time to the same view.Any time you can restore the view by clicking on show view icon.Try to save similar view of the project to the one shown under.

Light Calculation

Step-75

Time to calculate your project, so go to calculation mode

Step-76

You can start calculation right away but for this tutorial you will learn how to modify control groups and light scenes Go to Light Scene Tool in the CALCULATION MODE

Step-77

DIALux evo create by default each arrangement as control group, but you can change this anyway.Select the first control Group; it will be the RGBW wallwasherIf you canot see the control group click on the arrow heighted in Green box.The orange box shows you how many you have of this luminaire.You can click inside the red box and change the nameYou have four values as this luminaire has four color of RGBW (Red, Green, blue and warm white). You can dim any value from 100% to 0% before or after calculation.

Step-78

Keep this control group as it is and keep the group of 6 downlight as it is as well, but delete all other groups by clicking on the x on top right corner of control group window.

Step-79

Go to Light scenes Actions and select Create new luminaire group and select the new luminaire group which should have 0 luminaire.Select all track spotlights then click on + icon on control group window to add those light to this control group.If you want to remove any of them you can select any spotlight and click on – icon which will be activated only if you select an added luminaire to the group.

Step-80

Name you light scene to be all Light on

Step-81

Duplicate light scene form actions of light scene tool then name the new scene asWall washer Cyan ,50% Downlight

Step-82

Activate Wall washer Cyan, 50% Downlight scene by double clicking on the scene, if you wish activate Generate outputs for this light scene tosee values and results in the output.

Step-83

Now you have 2 light scene, Remember you can modify these values after calculation, however if you would like to generate different results in the output then you have to create the scene you want.

Note: If you want to speed up the calculation time, then keep only one scene as we have furniture with many surfaces.

Step-84

Before you start calculation save the project in another name so you can have a backup file.Go to Calculation tool in the CALCULATION MODE and start calculation

Step-85

You can show the different light scene by clicking on show once calculation finishes or form the top right corner select the required scene form the drop down menu and click on right icon to show it.

Step-86

If the color appearance of the light looks unnatural, go to display options at the right upper corner and select white balance as manual.The white balance The warmer the color you select (values towards 2000) the cooler the appearance of the room you get and vice versa.Many people get confused thinking that 2000 should make the room very warm like the lamp values, that is not true 2000 means you are seeing the room too warm and software will take that factor to make it cooler.For this tutorial select a value of 4000K.

Before adjusting the white balance

After adjusting the white balance to 4000K

Step-87

Go to view and select the saved POV(point of view) and restore it by double clicking on the image, or by selecting the image and clicking the show view button

Step-88

Go to raytracer tool

Adjust the resolution to the required value (1024×768)

Start the rendering

You can save the rendering after you get the result by save button

Step-89

-Zoom to the painting
-Go to Results tool
-Click on isoclines button
-Select the painting surface to get the values in isoclines
-You can adjust the color configuration as you wish
-You can create outputs for this calculation surface.

Step-90

Go back to light scene and adjust the light and color as you wish by dimming the value of RGBW Wallwasher or dimming the value of other luminaires

Great tutorial. With a little polishing it could/should be an official tutorial.
I have taken the liberty to upload the uld files for the luminaires used in this project. They are still freely available from the ERCO website, but they are hard to find.

Hello Ezzat! You are great, nobody does what you do, educating and giving your knowledge for free. I`m having problem as Ameen Aman – cant select luminarie and picture to centre it (different categories? how did you do it? :)). Thank you very much!

Great tutorial.
I have a question: Is there a way to color an entire object (all segments) with out having to individually select and color each segment? This is causing me a little grief as it takes too long to drag and drop every single color onto an object.
I am using DIALux evo 6.2.
Thanks.